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by mwcampbell 1095 days ago
> What exactly do you need and do you need it for every GUI you make?

A GUI toolkit that has no support for screen readers, or other assistive technologies that require accessibility APIs, should be a non-starter for most applications IMO. We need more options that meet that criterion without going all the way to a web page.

3 comments

From my original comment, "cross-platform UI toolkit that is easy to use, has all the accessibility features of the browser built in, and has a UI control toolkit as rich as say mui.com ... Support SVG as well as stylized layout similar to html+css"

So, you've failed to meet the requirements from the start.

I've also said, many times now, that you can use browser tech without an entire browser and the answer doesn't need to be electron.

How is electron better than a web page for accessibility?
Browsers/Electron has great accessibility in the box.
What does that mean and how does that answer the question? How is electron better than using a local webserver and web page for accessibility?
Well, I've specifically stated more than once, you don't need to use Electron specifically. The advantage Electron does provide is relative isolation from your installed browser (which are generally well sandboxed anyhow). The only other significant advantage is they are easier to jail/isolate for use with the likes of appImage, Snap and Flatpak/Flathub. So you can target multiple Linux platforms with a single build process, without dependency hell or getting stuck on older repository releases. Electron also offers a consistent option for your application's packaging and updates along with a consistent browser surface, where a separately packaged application that uses the system's browser will be indeterminant in terms of potential render issues and bugs.

Again, not that I'm advocating for Electron specifically, and haven't been. I've specifically mentioned Tauri and others as alternatives that use the system's browser engine, which you have repeatedly ignored.

relative isolation from your installed browser

What does this mean? What specifically do you think is being prevented?

The only other significant advantage is they are easier to jail/isolate for use with the likes of appImage, Snap and Flatpak/Flathub.

How is a program with hundreds of megabytes of dependencies easier than a single small statically compiled binary?

Again, not that I'm advocating for Electron specifically,

This thread was about people using electron even though users hate it.

Sorry, accidentally replied under the wrong post below.